I am obviously not David and unfortunately I burned my tongue on some soup before trying this wine, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but since there is some interest here on the new Four Gates wines and I haven't seen any write-up as yet, I did try the 2010 Petit Verdot last night.

Deep, dark, almost black in the glass. Stylistically a bit of a departure from most Four Gates reds. The biting acidity and firm tannins that you often see are less overt. I do not think that detracts from this wine but I generally prefer the other style. Somewhat reedy on the nose, the palate is dominated by cocoa. Also over the course of an hour there was little change in the profile. I have about half a bottle left so I will try it again tonight and see if it has changed at all.

Also to be fair, I opened it about 5 minutes after it arrived to my house.

OK-perhaps I underestimated the tanins in this one. Completely different wine last night. Nose was unchanged, but the cocoa was gone replaced by almost mellow red and black fruits, that were undetectable the previous night.

Thanks for the notes David. I think you nailed the notes on the Zin and Syrah. I look forward to trying the Petit Verdot under better conditions. The others I haven't tried. I also agree that a new benchmark was set last year and you can't always top yourself.

Also- when you include the descriptor "dead animal" that implies to me a spoiled or off quality as opposed to "fresh meat" or "bloody" or "earthy" or "barnyard"(which might be good or bad) or even "bretty." Perhaps you could clarify- should I be looking for the smell of roadkill?Thanks again for the comprehensive notes.

You know Jonathan you and Yossie and Craig are correct - I have been having too much fun with roadkill and dead animal on tar. dead animal is roasted - not spoiled. I will correct on all wines going forward - there is no reason to have people make mistakes about wines because of my madness(es) - LOL!!!

David Raccah wrote:You know Jonathan you and Yossie and Craig are correct - I have been having too much fun with roadkill and dead animal on tar. dead animal is roasted - not spoiled. I will correct on all wines going forward - there is no reason to have people make mistakes about wines because of my madness(es) - LOL!!!

First of all to keep Four Gates notes on this thread I will reiterate my notes from the weekend thread on the Zin.

Four Gates 2011 Santa Clara Valley Zinfandel: This is a terrific example of highly extracted jammy zin with enough acidity and structure to make that style work. It is also quite in contrast to the Landsman Zin which is much more restrained in style. Personally, I think Benyamin hit it out of the park with this one.

Quick aside: I've got to retry the Landsman Zin. My experience does not seem to match up with anybody here.

Now on to the somewhat perplexing Cuvee D Pinot Noir.I have always maintained that the prior Non-Vintage PN's from Four Gates reminded me of well-made entry-level Burgundy. The 2010 had such highly extracted fruit that it was a departure from that style and screamed California.The Cuvee D PN much more closely resembles old Burgundy. By old I mean mature to heading over the hill. There is an element of oxidation that never completely blows off but becomes a little less-pronounced with time in the glass at which time the wine becomes somewhat inky with red fruits, mostly cherry and a short finish. What reminds me most of Burgundy is the herbal-spice quality.DISCLAIMER: I love old Burgundy so this appeals to me on that level but it was not what I was expecting and I am not sure what its appeal will be to others and I expect opinions might be strong on both sides. I am very curious what others think of this one.

Jonathan - interesting notes on the Cuvee D. To me what you call old or over the hill, is more bramble and forest floor, but sure it is a bit more mature than the 2009 beast or the 2010 hitter. Would love to hear from others what they think indeed.

Many thanks for your detailed notes. I have been slow to get around to Benyo's wines, preferring to age them for a bit. However, I do plan on being more selective on the wines I age. I'm still drinking the NV (blend of 07/08) Pinot, but I've concluded that Benyo's Pinots don't gain much from aging, and in some instances they lose some of their charms. The other variety I think I've been aging for too long, is the Merlot.